Boys Sleepover!

Here are some pics from last thursday. Had my teen's class over for the night and a day. Didn't have a fix plan of activities this time round as it was really last minute.

Moses was sleepy as soon as we got in! It was quite late when we got back from fetching Raman in Ampang after prayer meeting. He tucked himself straight in...



While Moses snoozed, the rest of us played twister and had a wrestling bout later on...



Well, afterwards we went out for mamak and then to bed. The next morning, some of us went to play basket ball while others played gunbound online... Later, we had a few rounds of last straw with gunbound time as rewards, since they were arguing over who should play first...

Sorry Jian, your head got chopped.




As you can see, not much opportunity for shots unless we're doing something less active. At 12:30, Uncle GB and Aunty Poh Poh brought fried rice which we had for lunch. Then we watched Honey I Blew Up The Kid and played a game of crazy wind ball. Finally, after getting everyone bathed, they were sent home (except Raman who had to take the commuter back).


Shaun with a new hairstyle!



The mess!

The Difference Between Soo Aun and Cheryl...

Cheryl looks at bucket...



Soo Aun jumps straight in...

Internal Injuries

I had the little finger on my left hand injured during futsal with the guys. Some home remedies and 4 weeks later it doesn't seem any better, maybe worse. So, i tell myself i have to get it seen to and drop by a chinese 'tabib'. This place was introduced to me by a supplier and is one of the shop lots at the pasar road market. 10 mins, some pain and 30 bucks later, i leave the place with my left hand bandaged up with chinese medicine and congratulate myself for not passing out.



So, it's weds night and i try unsuccessfully to hide the hideous bandage behind my songbook. Soon, everyone's asking what happened to my hand. Of course those who are closer know that i've been having this injury for some time but to those who didn't, now they know.

What IS my point exactly? Well, i was just thinking about how many of us are hurting and have problems but don't share it. And how every thinks everyone is doing fine and dandy when the opposite is true. Just like in mariage, we are taught early that if you don't communicate how you feel and what your opinion is, how do you expect your partner to know or understand what you are feeling or thinking? So it is with the church family. If i don't share with others the struggles i am going through, how are they to pray for me? If i don't voice out my point of view, how are others to know i disapprove of their actions or feel strongly about an issue? Sure, some problems cannot be yelled out from the top of the steeple but i feel a warm comfort in knowing that i have brethren who are with me in my trials and supporting me in prayer, don't you?

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." 1 Peter 5:16a

say a prayer

i see you coming around the corner
i try to hide but it's too late
wish it were like when we were together
but things have changed, yes it's too late

when raindrops hit the ground
i wish you will be there
when the storm comes crashing down
i will say a prayer

why can't things be like they used to be
life was simple, reckless, fun
now life has changed and so have we
but in my heart you're still the one

when my teardrops hit the ground
tell me you will be there
when my world comes crashing down
will you say a prayer

Big Trouble in Little Molar...

Proverbs says, "If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you" - Proverbs 9:12a

Soo Aun says, "If you are poor, your wisdom tooth will make you poorer"...


-photo from www.davidshrigley.com-

I finally decided to get it seen to. Doc says i have the teeth of a 50-60 year old cause i brush too hard. Long story short, i left Kok's Dental Surgery feeling like Mick Jagger and poorer by RM205. Will have to go back in a month and decide if i want to extract it or save it, and if i save it, face the possibility of losing both mr. wisdom tooth and the ms. pearly molar next to him... not to mention a few hundred bucks too... :(

Weekend Happenings!

Back to nature
It felt good to look forward to a hike again. Arranged with Jeya to pick him up at 6am and head for Sg. Tekala forest reserve to release a retic i had bought from orang asli who lived nearby. Didn't hear my alarm and woke only to Jeya's phone call at 6:18am. Sorry bro... Hey, it's not like me to be late for anything, ask him. Anyways, here are some shots from our morning out.


Baby cricket on a leaf... we saw a tiny frog too but he was a little too shy of the camera...


Yes, we took some time to appreciate some fauna and flora...


When we found a suitable spot to release the retic, she wasn't keen to leave the comfort of the pillow case (yes, cheryl found out about the pillow case :P)


Had to force her out and off she went, so silently...


We came across this lost sole while crossing the river... a poignant reminder of lost souls and crossing rivers...


It was way to early for a dip in the river...


We were very pleasantly surprised at the level of cleanliness. There must have been a big cleanup sometime recently, hardly a piece of rubbish in sight...


Let's hope it stays this way!


As the sun comes up, skinks come out to bask. This guy let me come quite close for a few good shots...


Sun rays and the adventurer!


Bloc tries rambutans...


Cheryl took this pic of me trying to feed bloc half a rambutan. After slobbering all over my hand, the half rambutan was still there!


Tired after a busy morning, i caught a nap while Cheryl caught bloc doing like his master :D


First accident :(



There goes all desires to keep my new car accident free. Careless bloke rushing out of a junction fails to look left and ploughs his vitara into my car eventhough i am honking for all i'm worth. Thankfully, he misses my headlights and any metal parts. (Thankfully for him!) Anyway, he's a pretty decent guy, i think and will meet me in Perodua tomorrow to find out how much it'd cost to spray. I could demand for a new bumper (RM376.20) and paint (RM180) plus labour (RM40), but don't wanna be difficult. Once in a while we need reminders that a car is a car...

Ixora hedge...

Here are pictures of our hedge...



Have been watering faithfully everynight after Bloc's walk ;)





Waiting to bloom!

I can't get no.... satisfaction....

"Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man" - Proverbs 27:20

Sitting at the mamak with my daily roti telur and milo ais, i watch the cars go by and remember once upon a time when i prayed and begged God for a car. A ford like the one Ah Tee's brother, Ah Teong used to drive. I would imagine driving it all the way up to Penang and surprising my cousins, seeing the look on their faces and watching them admire my sporty car... Well, God didn't answer that prayer.

Fast forward to a mazda 808, nissan vanette, old mitsubishi galant and junk toyota dx liftback, i'm driving in the rain and praying to the Lord for any car, just one that doesnt leak in 3 places! He answers this prayer and soon i'm zooming around in spanking new kenari. A few cheap mods and i get it customised, one of a kind, no other car like that in the world, Yay!

How blessed i am to be driving around in a new myvi now! But why does my heart lust so much for bodykits, adjustable suspensions, sport rims, carbon fibre bonnet, extractor, CIA ram, twin pipes and more? Oh, to see the blessedness of what i have instead of what i dont...

but..... must..... still.... cusstomise..... some...... how..... g..a.s...p..... c..o..u....g..h.........w.....h..e...e.....z.....e......







ps. cousins now drive cars costing double or more mine... yes, all three of them... so, no more dreams of surprises and showing off... somehow, they dont have the 'customisation' urge tho....

Doulos Trip pics!

Here are some pics from the Doulos trip. The outing was ruined by the accident that happened but we thank God that those involved are recovering well...


Da ship


Tong How and Thiagu


2 volunteers and 3 clowns ;)


Painted hearts were a hit with the kids!


Barathi and Ah Bee the greenies


A kind helper untangling Ah Bee's spingy toy


Ivan, Desmund and Shaun


Desmond and Jaya


Karthika and Priya

Check out more pics here.

Lina Joy case

Here are some helpfull links on the Lina Joy case...


The Becket Fund

NECF1

NECF2

AsiaNews.it, 23rd June

AsiaNews.it, 14th July

AsiaNews.it, 24th July

Wikipedia

Reuters, 26th June

IPS News, 12th July

ABIM, 5th July


Malaysian Media

The Star, 4th July

The Star, 5th July

The Star - links to other articles

BERNAMA, 4th July

Sun2Surf, 3rd July

NST, 24th July


Personal Views

A Cygnet Shin, Malaysiakini, 19th July

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Malaysiakini, 27th July

Dina Zaman, Malaysiakini, 28th July

Soo-Inn Tan, 17th July

Evelyn Kang, 18th July

Whyislam.org Forum

Serious.... then crazy!

hehe...

We'll miss Sze Leng in Boys and Teens! :(

aw, they all look so cute and adorable... wait till you hear them yell :)

idea of north.... up close

due to poor publicity, we had idea of north all to ourselves, well almost ;P

enjoy...


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i hurt...

...daily



deep sense of sadness
gut wrenching dread
despair and helpless
desperation...

Photos 2...

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3 boys on the beach.


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Kajang B&T Club staff.


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Ho Ho Hospites... missed by 4 points to win!

Photos!

As promised, here are some pics from the Penang trip...


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Family Camp :)

Ah, time flies when you're having fun... We had a tiring but pretty challenging treasure hunt this afternoon thanks to Uncle Raymond... I'm sure we'll read more about it on Pei Ling's blog, so since she likes to talk so much, i'll let her tell... ;)

Contemplating staying on for the weekend to spend some time with family and friends but really dont know if it's the wisest thing to do. Can't imagine reaching home on sunday and having to go to work immediately the next day...

Ok, will blog again with pictures next time...

HATE

i hate your procrastination
i hate your indifference
i hate your empty promises
i hate your lies
i hate that i'm resentfull
i hate that my resentment has turned to hate
i hate myself
i hate hate...

Chinese characters contain Bible stories

I have a book that details this, but someone took the time to make it into a flash presentation... quite well done, I must say...

Check it out here

crummy day... so far...

feel really depressed today... maybe blogging about it will help me realise there's not so much to be depressed about... so what's getting me down?

1. got struck by the flu bug on weds, sore throat is worsening today, so generally feel a little sick and tired. just hope cheryl doesnt catch it,

2. microphone that i repaired yesterday refused to work when tested today. only tested today because i didnt have a transmitter to test it with till this morning. so, i had to cut open all my hard work of at least 7 pieces of shrink tube to find that the connection are all fine. bummer, this makes things even worse cause it means something else is causing it to fail,

3. i have to go back to aquaria tonight to work on the project there. this project is a waste of time and energy. already spent 2 whole nights there, once till past midnight and the other till 2.30am. something so straight forward can twist into a complex mess. remind me never to get involved with sound systems that have diving radios and troublesome management in the equation,

4. tze's obi-wan is harder to fix than i expected. just getting the broken part out of his hand took much more brain work than calculated. i hope i dont destroy it. haha, tze just panicked, reading this. dont worry bro, everything's fine, so far...

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SO, on the brighter side of things, i went for a walk and admired some really nice toys. i just love the detail of costumes and accesories on figurines...

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Oh, and watching the sharks and sting rays gliding around tonight should help ease the stress...

Here we go again...

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Unlike my ever-so-wise younger sibling, I never checked the full details of my MyKad when collecting it. Just made sure the name was right and took off. Something about govenrment agencies irritate me.

So, today on the busy, but ever-so-interesting streets of Pasar Road I find the error that I had been living with in happy ignorance... Agama... Buddha... Blast, this means a trip to the ever-so-annoying government department. Well, at least I can call lil sis to ask her how to go about it...

Oh, by the way, I picked up the reader for RM17 so anyone who doesn't want to live in blissful ignorance can check their info, I'll be carrying it around for your sakes...

Car related events I'm really looking forward to... Woohoo!

KLIMS06

CARS - another animated feature by the makers of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles!

Another screen shot from CARS

and last but certainly not least... Fast and Furious comes to Asia!

Lost For Words

When was the last time you said, "Have a nice day!"? I hardly use that phrase anymore. Somehow, nice doesn't seem to cut it anymore. "Oh, that's nice!", or in reply to, "How was it?", "Um, it was nice". These days, nice would mean, "well, yeah... it's ok, not bad, not that good, just... nice."

When something's good and it strikes us, we'd say, "Wow, that was awesome!", or "Amazing! It was simply wonderful!", or "Great! That was super!". So, these days, I just say, "Have a super day!" or "Thanks for the great time!".

But you know what's been bugging me lately? These are exactly the same words we use to describe God. Wonderful. Awesome. Great. Lovely. We use the same words to describe the Almighty, all powerful God as we would a sundae. Either our language has very limited words, or we exaggerate and over use big words that they lose their meaning. Maybe it's because simple words like good, nice, pleasant or fine have lost their power and we need something more dramatic to describe a, well, good experience. Hey, when God saw all He had made, He said it was good. The whole world, Lord? Good? More like, it was da bomb! Amazing! Fantastic! Wonderful! Awesome!

Tough Love

I just learnt this term from a friend recently. Two definitions from the internet are as follows.

Answers.com
tough love
n.
The use of strict disciplinary measures and limitations on freedoms or privileges, as by a parent or guardian, as a means of fostering responsibility and expressing care or concern.

Wikipedia.org
Tough love is an expression used when someone must treat another person harshly in order to help them in the long run. For example, parents refusing to support their drug-addicted child financially until the he or she entered drug rehabilitation would be said to be practicing tough love.

This term seems to be used very widely in helping parents with troubled teens, families with problems where a member of the family is a drug abuser or alcoholic and such. It involves parents or family members coming together to set strict rules or ultimatums for the troubled person. This often drives the individual to be forced to improve or take measures in the right direction. Of course, from the individual's point of view it is the pits and will probably feel like very harsh treatment. However, it has to be done for his/her end good.
Only problem with this is that it may backfire and the family/parents may never see their loved one again. So, there is much debate if tough love is the right step to take.

Which brings me to think about how God treats us. He often allows us to get ourselves into such a rut that we have no choice but to look to Him and learn that lessons that we need to learn. This is proven when we read how time and time again, the children of Israel had to be put into trouble before they cried out to Him. Sigh, how pathetic we humans are. The good thing is that with God, He knows what the outcome is. His plans never backfire.

I love to repeat this. God KNOWS what is best for us, God has the POWER to do what is best for us and God WANTS what is best for us. If He was missing any one of the three points, it would be just too bad...

Problematic People

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those with problems and those without problems. The latter are seriously clueless or plainly in denial, for problems are just part of life. Even the Lord Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble." So, my first sentence is wrong. But it isn't the fact that life is full of strife that is on my mind today but what people do about it.

One thing I really cannot stand is when someone says, "I'm like that, that just the way I am." And uses that as an excuse. It's one thing to say, "I'm sorry, communicating isn't my greatest strength and I apologise for .... so on and so forth," but using the 'oh, that just the way I am' line as an excuse for something is just totally unacceptable to me.

So, maybe there are 3 kinds of people in the world.
1.Those who don't even realise they have weaknesses,
2. Those who realise their weaknesses and don't do anything about it, and
3. Those who realise their weaknesses and actually do something about it,

I guess the first and most important step towards anything positive is realising and acknowledging that you have a weakness and that it is a problem. Only then can one take measures to correct it, or seek help from someone who knows better.

But which category of people are worse off? Those who don't even think or know that they have a problem? Or those who know they have a problem but don't do anything about it?

Those in category 1 may not even realise the pain and suffering they are causing others by their problem, but is it really their fault? Or they put the blame on others and refuse to see that they are the ones with the problem.

Those in category 2 know that they have a problem but due to fear, procrastination, pride or indifference just fail to do anything about it. Which is worse? You tell me...

What does the Lord say after telling his disciples that they will surely have trouble in this world? He says, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." Talk about leadership by example! Not only does He save us, He has gone through it all before and promises to be with us every step of the way.

Reality Check

I think most people (including me) need a reality check once in a while. Here are some things that came to mind today.

1. God does not owe you anything. Why is it we some times go around complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves if things don't go the way we want. Read about the children on Israel after God brought them out of Egypt and you'll go, "What the.... ? These people are just too much!" Wake up and look around you and realise we're all the same, in fact, worse. After having the amazing plans of God revealed to us, we still whine and sulk if we don't get our way. AND, to top it all off, God actually wants what's best for us... Mind boggling...

2. No circumstance we're in gives us the right to sin. I don't know about you, but i have often found myself going, "Aaargh, who cares about doing what is right anymore? I'll just do what I want and what I like!" This most probably takes place when I've been put in a situation where I feel life is unfair and I'm not getting what I deserve. Reality check, we deserve hell. Refer to point 1. I believe if we just realise how powerful, awesome, frightening and holy God is, we'd be scurrying around being obedient little servants and appreciating every drop of grace that has been lavishly showered upon us. All this after cleaning up the mess we made from peeing in our pants...

What a patient, patient God we have... let's not dare abuse His love...

from long long ago 8

this song is dedicated to my baby brother, Kok Soo Vern (20 June, 1979 - 4 Feb, 1980)

The Friend I Could've Had

I didn't feel the sorrow,
Of what happened way back then;
For I was still too young to know,
That I had lost a precious friend.

But you could've been my companion,
You could've been my friend;
I could have been always there,
When you needed a helping hand.

But the ways of God are far too high
for us to understand;
So I never had this brother,
Who could've been my friend.

Though the time you spent around with us
was so very brief and short,
I still thank the Lord for all the joy
and happiness you brought.

And I'm happy for you, little friend
that it was the Lord's good plan,
To save you from the misery
of this painful, sinful land.

For the ways of God are far too high
for man to comprehend,
And I'm glad I had this brother once,
Who could've been my friend.

Don't have much memories of you,
But I still feel kinda sad,
Whenever I stop and think about
the friend I could've had.

- 18 Sep, 1998